The play starts when Stratippocles returns from the war, having lost his shield (the act of a coward), and bringing a captive girl he has fallen in love with.
When Epidicus tells him that while he was away he has carried out his wishes and purchased the girl as instructed, Stratippocles callously informs him he has wasted his time since he is now in love with someone else.
Since his friend Chaeribulus refuses to help him, Stratippocles orders Epidicus to find the money that same day, threatening to severely punish him if he does not succeed.
Shortly afterwards, Philippa, Telestis's mother, shows up at Periphanes' home looking for her daughter, since she heard she was brought to Athens as a captive.
Stratippocles, upset about the "loss" of his love due to her being his half-sister, is comforted by Acropolistis, the original slave girl whom Epidicus purchased.
From a metrical point of view, Plautus's plays are generally made up of (A) iambic senarii (unaccompanied), (B) songs in various metres, and (C) trochaic septenarii (sung or recited to music), usually in that order.
[3] Epidicus is slightly different, however, since the first three sections have no iambic senarii, but begin directly with music: The fourth section, instead of the usual trochaic septenarii, ends with 41 lines of iambic septenarii, a metre sometimes called the "laughing metre",[4] appropriate for moments of gleeful emotion.
Another unusual feature is the 7 lines of the lyrical wilamowitzianus metre (533–536), used where Philippa and Periphanes see each other for the first time in many years.